Happy 2012!

Hello & Welcome 2012. I am not one for New Years Resolutions. Look at it this way- if you are truly motivated to do something, then do it. No need to wait for the new year, do it now! After starting a “don’t eat everything you see at once diet” to quickly get a bikini bod for Hawaii in the middle of November, I decided to keep going on this path of least resistance. This “diet” is really just eating healthy, avoiding fats, carbs, and added sugars while eating lots of veggies and other skinny foods. Here are some little tips for a better, healthier you, that I was thinking about as the new year rolled around.

1. Chew more. This is MUCH easier said than done. When you have a delicious plate of food in front of you and you’re hungry, all you want to do is stuff your face. But as we all know, this isn’t great for you. Besides not choaking on unchewed food, there are several other benefits to chewing your food more, like helping your body out with digestion. Digestion actually begins in your mouth. While your teeth are breaking down bigger pieces of food, the enzymes, lipase and amylase are starting to break down fats and carbs, respectively. Protein doesnt start getting digested until the stomach, so it really makes sense to chew that meat more to help out your stomach. Another benefit to chewing more, is that you feel full while eating less. It takes about 15-20 minutes for your stomach to notify your brain you are full. So eat slower, chew more.

2. Kegels. Honestly there is no reason NOT to do kegels. These little exercises have many health benefits including a tighter V and more control during sex for both men and women. During pregnancy, the pelvic floor is stressed, commonly causing urine control problems (incontinence) and pelvic organs to sag (uterine prolapse). The Mayo Clinic, WebMD, and About.com all have routines. Like with any good exercise regiment, switch it up so you dont settle into a rut.

3. Drink. Eat. Sweat. Drink lots of water. Eat lots of fresh veggies. And sweat out all the bad stuff. These 3 things you can almost never do too much of.